DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,658 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $839,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. now owns 184,925 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $94,175,000 after buying an additional 12,372 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 337,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $171,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,348 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 47.4% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,394,000 after purchasing an additional 8,458 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 62,584 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,872,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 39,031 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $510.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $551.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $562.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.